Kandara flattened herself against the wall to one side of the ruined door and shoved her hand out across the gap. Three more mini-grenades were fired into lab five, programmed to detonate close to the back wall so the fugitives wouldn’t be shielded by the bench.

The drone sensors showed her the overlapping explosions. She saw the fish tank finally disintegrate, sending water sloshing across the floor, with thrashing fish surfing the churning ripples. Several of them slithered to a halt around Arntsen, who was now facedown, his clothes badly ripped by the blasts. Several of his ribs were visible in the gashes where skin had been flayed and burned from his back.

Fasan, by some miracle, was still relatively undamaged. He was crawling toward the shattered window wall. Kandara selected a projectile for the magrail rifle and spun around the warped doorframe. There were three benches between her and Fasan. Target graphics locked on to his head—a coordinate supplied by the microdrones. The rifle fired, punching the projectile through the benches as if they were holograms. His head exploded in a cloud of gore-vapor and bone shrapnel.

Kandara walked forward as slender white rods began to slide up out of the bruised flesh of Arntsen’s forearms. “Shit!” She shot two mini-grenades at him. His body ruptured, spraying gobs of skin and organ across the laboratory.

Two of his projectile peripherals fired on her as they sailed through the air—one embedded in his wrist, another rooted in a long chunk of humerus bone that spun like a baton. Her armor’s outer layer locked, deflecting the impacts. Even so, they were powerful enough to shove her back toward the broken door. Helmet sensors revealed his peripherals that had survived the grenades, splashing them like a cloud of gold embers across the lab. Kandara’s arms moved as if she were karate-chopping an invisible foe, using her gamma lasers to kill the small devices before they could attack her.

Once they were reduced to smoking cinder points, she went over to Fasan’s headless corpse and began a precision strike on his peripherals.

“Kandara, what’s your status?” Jessika asked.

“Still active. You can restore Eóin’s network now. Arntsen and Fasan have been eliminated. Tell whatever cleanup crew you send to be vigilant. I’ve disabled their peripherals, but they might have left other hostile systems behind.”

“Understood. Kandara, we’re worried about Kruse. Hir altme is offline.”

Kandara walked out of the lab. “I’m not surprised. Sie was completely exposed to the drone explosion.” She scanned around the ramp, her suit sensors picking up the moaning and cries of pain. “There are casualties. You can allow the paramedics in.”

“Opening the hubs to Eóin now,” Oistad said. “Can you get a visual on Kruse?

“I’m on my way down now. Do not open any portal doors to Bremble. It’s imperative that Cancer remain isolated.”